Stampede has led all the way under apprentice Rachel King to win the Wagga Wagga Gold Cup for trainers Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott.
The four-year-old held off the Chris Waller-trained Life Less Ordinary by half a length with the Lee and Anthony Freedman-trained Cool Chap another 2-3/4 lengths away in Friday’s 2000m-feature on the second day of the carnival in the NSW Riverina.
It was the second Gold Cup for Waterhouse and Bott in less than a week with Fabrizio winning last Saturday’s Hawkesbury feature in similar fashion.
King will get the chance to win another 2000m-Listed race at Rosehill on Saturday when she rides the Kris Lees-trained Slow Pace in the Lord Mayors Cup at Rosehill.
King, who is indentured to Waterhouse and Bott, said it was a thrill to win the Cup on her first visit to Wagga Wagga.
“He is a beautiful horse. He has a lot of ability,” King told Sky Thoroughbred Central.
“I could hear them coming but he could as well.
“It is by biggest win for the stable.”
Earlier the Freedman-trained Exocet took out the Guineas (1600m).
She gave the Freedman brothers three winners from three runners at the carnival before Cool Chap’s third with two-year-old Grandioso winning on the first day along with Santa Ana Lane in the Town Plate.
